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How old are GCSE candidates?

Statistics Report Series No. 20

Tim Gill

June 2010

Research Division – Statistics Group Assessment Research and Development

Cambridge Assessment 1 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1GG

Introduction Although GCSEs are designed for sixteen year olds, older and younger candidates can enter for them. There are a number of potential types of candidates who enter for GCSEs not at age 16: i) Very young candidates - These are candidates who enter examinations below year 10. Sometimes they are candidates who are gifted in a particular subject (or in the case of native speakers of modern languages have a specific advantage), and they may enter for lower tiers. A search of the internet will reveal news stories about such candidates1. It is worth noting that there are probably many more candidates who would be capable of entering GCSEs in one or two subjects if they were allowed to specialise at a young age. ii) Accelerated candidates who enter all subjects one year early - These are high ability candidates who are in year 10 in age but are moved up a year group to be in classes with year 11 candidates. iii) Decelerated candidates who enter all subjects one year later - These are year 12 candidates in age but are kept down a year. iv) Early entry of individual subjects - These candidates enter one or two subjects whilst in year 10 and take the rest in year 11. v) Re-sits in sixth form years - These candidates have sat the examination in year 11 and are trying to improve their results. vi) Additional entries in the sixth form years - Candidates who take GCSEs for the first time in the sixth form. This perhaps used to occur more often prior to GCSE, but the lower sixth form curriculum is currently much fuller with candidates taking four or five AS levels. vii) Adult entries - These are likely to be adults attempting to improve their chances of getting into further/higher education or getting a job, or those with an interest in a particular subject. Some of these candidates may have entered the examinations in these subjects when they were sixteen. There are likely to be a number of external influences on the age at which candidates take GCSEs. For candidates entering very early, teachers and parents are clearly going to have the biggest influence. Another big influence is government educational policy. Recent changes include the introduction of modular GCSEs which has meant that the best candidates can complete some GCSEs early. For example, the change from Double Award Science to separate (modular) GCSEs in Core Science and Additional Science has made obtaining a science GCSE in year 10 much more feasible. There has also been a freeing up of the curriculum in recent years, allowing pupils to take exams when they are ready for them, rather than rigidly taking them in year 112. This is partly the result of the scrapping of Key Stage 3 (KS3) SATs, which means it

1 See Appendix A for some examples taken from the web 2 See for example http://www.independent.co.uk/student/magazines/testing-times-gcses-just-became-more-flexible-397878.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/student/magazines/testing-times-gcses-just-became-more-flexible-397878.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/student/magazines/testing-times-gcses-just-became-more-flexible-397878.html

is now possible to complete KS3 in two, rather than three years. This has led to some schools having their entire intake taking GCSEs a year early3. Entering candidates early for some GCSEs also allows them a chance to re-sit in year 11 if they are not happy with their grade. The availability of alternative qualifications is another influence on the number of GCSEs taken. Independent schools are increasingly choosing to enter candidates for International General Certificate of Education (IGCSE) examinations, and many of these are likely to be accredited for state schools in the near future. Currently there are also substantial numbers of vocational alternatives to GCSEs, many of which are attractive to state schools as they count towards league table calculations. Economics may also have an impact on when people decide to take GCSEs. In a recession the absence of jobs may mean that more pupils stay on after age 16 to try and get more qualifications or improve on their results, in order to get into further/higher education or be able to compete better in the job market. There might be a similar impact on adult entries with the unemployed having more time to study or needing to re-train in order to find a job in a different area. For this report the distribution of GCSE entries and candidates by age are presented for three different years. The results are then broken down by what are considered to be important factors, such as school type and subject. Finally, the most popular subjects taken by candidates of different ages are shown. Data The data for this report comes from the National Candidate Results Archive, which consists of all GCSE entries from all exam boards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Data on the examination centre (usually a school) where the candidate is registered is also collected, along with the gender and date of birth of the candidate. A degree of caution about the date of birth information is needed since it is possible that mistakes are made in data entry. For this reason the awarding bodies have always been cautious about identifying the youngest and the oldest GCSE candidates in any given year. Thus, for this report we grouped together ages where there were few candidates and entries. We use the following age groups: 10 or younger, 11-13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20-24, 24-55 and 55 and older. The data was cleaned as much as possible. Candidates with missing birth dates were excluded. By searching on the internet it was discovered that the youngest reported GCSE candidate was aged six, so anyone with a date of birth implying an age below this was taken out. It was not possible to determine the age of the oldest candidates, but it was assumed that elderly candidates would only be likely to be taking one or two GCSEs. Thus, for any of these who were apparently taking more than four it was assumed that the birth date had been typed in incorrectly and they were excluded. Similarly, very young candidates (below age 10) who had apparently taken more than four GCSEs were excluded. The results archive only had data on the syllabus code, not the subject taken. In order to find the subject the data was matched with the National Pupil Database (NPD). This meant that only exams taken in English schools were included, because this is all that is in the NPD. It also meant a small amount of data was lost where the syllabus code did not match a subject in the NPD.

3 http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/School-pupils-sit-GCSEs-year-early/article-1341142-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/School-pupils-sit-GCSEs-year-early/article-1341142-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/School-pupils-sit-GCSEs-year-early/article-1341142-detail/article.html

There were some double award GCSEs in all years. These were double award science in 2000 and 2004, and a number of vocational double awards in 2009. They were each counted as two GCSEs when calculating the entries and the number of GCSEs per candidate. Data from three different years was analysed to investigate changes over time. The first year was 2000 which was chosen because this was before the introduction of modular specifications. The second year was 2004, which was the first certification of most modular GCSE specifications. Finally, 2009 was chosen, being the most recent year in which data was available. We should note that one issue with interpreting trends over time in this type of data is the existence of alternative qualifications. These include IGCSEs and vocational alternatives to GCSEs and are not included in the databases used in this report. Results The first analysis was based on age. For this report age has been defined in terms of the academic year rather than the calendar year. So, for the 2009 data a sixteen year old (year 11) was a candidate who had their sixteenth birthday between the 1st September 2008 and 31st August 2009. For consistency this was applied to adult candidates as well. Table 1 presents the number, percentage and cumulative percentage of GCSE entries in each year by age group. Table 2 presents the same data on GCSE candidates. Table 1: Entries by age band Number Percentage Cumulative percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 55 76 72 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

11-13 1,514 1,821 3,473 <0.1 <0.1 0.1 <0.1 <0.1 0.1

14 4,878 10,768 42,258 0.1 0.2 0.8 0.1 0.3 0.9

15 54,259 82,652 263,166 1.2 1.7 5.1 1.3 1.9 6.0

16 4,250,321 4,687,506 4,615,162 93.3 94.2 90.1 94.6 96.1 96.1

17 143,041 112,287 118,189 3.1 2.3 2.3 97.7 98.4 98.4

18 34,075 27,472 31,776 0.8 0.6 0.6 98.5 98.9 99.0

19 13,138 10,981 13,366 0.3 0.2 0.3 98.8 99.1 99.3

20-24 14,327 11,411 12,357 0.3 0.2 0.2 99.1 99.4 99.5

25-54 38,242 29,366 23,763 0.8 0.6 0.5 99.9 99.9 100.0

55 or older 3,372 2,895 1,693 0.1 0.1 <0.1 100.0 100.0 100.0

The vast majority of candidates and entries were from 16 year olds. The percentage of entries by 16 year olds was much higher in each year (over 90%) than the percentage of 16 year old candidates (between 63% and 75%). The second highest number of entries and candidates were 17 year olds in 2000 and 2004 (making up 3.1% and 2.3% of entries and 10.4% and 7.2% of candidates respectively), and 15 year olds in 2009 (5.1% of entries and 19.2% of candidates). Indeed, 2009 saw a notable shift in the percentages of entries and candidates from 16 to 15 year olds in comparison to earlier years. Between 2004 and 2009 the percentage of entries from 16 year olds fell from 94.2% to 90.1% and entries from 15 year olds increased from 1.7% to 5.1%. Similarly, the percentage of 16 year old candidates fell from 75.6% to 63.5% and 15 year olds increased from 7.5% to 19.2%. There were also large increases in the number and percentage of younger candidates (11-14 year olds) taking GCSEs between 2004 and 2009.

Table 2: Candidates by age band

Number Percentage Cumulative percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 52 74 69 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1

11-13 1,458 1,757 3,398 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.4

14 4,428 9,910 38,069 0.6 1.2 3.9 0.8 1.4 4.3

15 33,744 61,521 187,113 4.4 7.5 19.2 5.2 8.9 23.5

16 557,175 620,406 618,382 73.3 75.6 63.5 78.5 84.6 86.9

17 79,080 59,412 61,751 10.4 7.2 6.3 88.9 91.8 93.3

18 25,755 20,485 23,926 3.4 2.5 2.5 92.3 94.3 95.7

19 10,193 8,521 10,094 1.3 1.0 1.0 93.6 95.3 96.7

20-24 11,548 9,248 9,469 1.5 1.1 1.0 95.1 96.5 97.7

25-54 33,867 26,247 20,668 4.5 3.2 2.1 99.6 99.7 99.8

55 or older 3,242 2,788 1,623 0.4 0.3 0.2 100.0 100.0 100.0

The difference in the percentages of entries and the percentages of candidates in each age band can be explained by the number of GCSEs taken. Clearly, 16 year olds take the most number on average. Table 3 presents the mean number of GCSEs taken in each year by candidate in each age band. Table 3: Mean number of entries by age band

age band 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1.1 1.1 1.1

11-13 1.0 1.0 1.0

14 1.1 1.1 1.1

15 1.6 1.4 1.4

16 8.3 8.5 7.6

17 1.9 2.0 1.9

18 1.3 1.4 1.3

19 1.3 1.3 1.3

20-24 1.2 1.2 1.3

25-54 1.1 1.1 1.1

55 or older 1.0 1.0 1.0

Candidates aged 16 had by far the largest number of entries on average. However, there was a considerable drop for 16 year olds between 2004 and 2009. This may be due to some pupils taking alternative qualifications to GCSEs, such as IGCSEs or vocational qualifications. It may also be a consequence of more pupils taking one or two exams a year early. Otherwise there was very little change over time in the mean number of exams taken by candidates in each age group. It is worth noting that the average number taken by 15 year olds did not change in 2009, despite the large increase in the total number of entries (up from 82,652 in 2004 to 263,166 in 2009. See Table 1). This suggests that these are candidates merely taking one or two GCSEs a year early not ones moved up a school year and taking all their GCSEs early. Appendix A breaks down these tables by gender. Overall there were slightly more entries by females than males. However, there were more entries by very young boys (aged 10 or under) than girls, and more entries by 17 year old boys than girls. The largest difference was amongst the 25-54 age range where the ratio of female entries to males was around 3 to 1.

In terms of candidates the patterns were generally similar, although there were slightly more boys than girls aged 16, meaning that girls this age took more GCSEs on average than boys did. This can be seen in the mean number of GCSEs per candidate, broken down by gender in Appendix A. Amongst 16 year old girls the number of GCSEs taken on average was 8.5 in 2000, 8.7 in 2004 and 7.8 in 2009, compared to 8.2, 8.3 and 7.3 for 16 year old boys. School type It is clear that the type of school can influence the pattern of early entries. For this reason, the data has also been analysed by school type. Obviously, adult learners do not attend some types of schools as pupils (but they can be recorded as entering examinations at a school e.g. by taking evening classes). In the following tables the entries by age band and school type are presented, along with the mean number of entries per candidate. Table 4: Entries by age (Comprehensive Schools)

Number Percentage Mean no of entries

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 16 8 39 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

11-13 775 1,012 2,317 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.0 1.0 1.0

14 2,633 7,555 34,840 0.1 0.2 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.1

15 25,645 53,513 200,290 0.7 1.4 5.0 1.4 1.3 1.4

16 3,457,929 3,798,550 3,710,666 97.4 97.1 92.5 8.4 8.6 7.6

17 50,950 39,392 48,602 1.4 1.0 1.2 1.9 2.2 2.0

18 6,394 5,416 7,887 0.2 0.1 0.2 1.3 1.3 1.2

19 1,307 1,190 1,915 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.2 1.2

20-24 716 708 ,925 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.2 1.2

25-54 3,178 2,738 3,161 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.1 1.1 1.1

55 or older 283 319 260 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

As expected, in comprehensives the vast majority of candidates were aged 16, followed by 15 and 17 year olds. The number of entries by 14 and 15 year olds increased between 2000 and 2004, and increased by a large amount between 2004 and 2009. The mean number of entries by 16 year olds fell between 2004 and 2009 from 8.6 to 7.6.

The pattern of entries by age band was very similar in grammar schools (see Table 5) to that in comprehensives, with most entries by 16 year olds. There were a slightly higher percentage of 15 year olds than in comprehensives (6.4% in 2009 compared with 5.0%). Again, there was a large increase in the number of entries by under 16 year olds in 2009 compared to 2004. The mean number of entries was higher for 16 year olds than in comprehensives (above 9 in all years), and there was no fall in this figure in 2009.

Table 5: Entries by age (Grammar Schools)


age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 2 . 0.0 0.0 . 1.0 1.0 .

11-13 65 95 144 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.0 1.0 1.0

14 275 432 949 0.1 0.2 0.4 1.1 1.3 1.0

15 3,438 4,311 15,040 1.9 2.1 6.4 1.9 1.6 1.9

16 178,834 200,685 217,957 96.8 97.1 92.5 9.1 9.5 9.6

17 1,658 783 1,063 0.9 0.4 0.5 2.0 2.1 2.2

18 399 212 239 0.2 0.1 0.1 1.1 1.1 1.0

19 31 22 30 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.3 1.0

20-24 10 11 25 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3 1.0 1.2

25-54 32 61 130 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.0 1.1 1.1

55 or older 5 14 19 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

Table 6: Entries by age (Independent Schools)


age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 11 9 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.0 1.0

11-13 257 271 324 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.1 1.1 1.1

14 1,136 1,091 1,691 0.3 0.3 0.4 1.3 1.2 1.2

15 20,072 16,444 17,275 5.6 4.3 4.4 2.2 1.9 1.6

16 313,335 345,186 351,561 87.1 89.8 89.9 8.5 8.6 7.8

17 21,489 18,950 17,751 6.0 4.9 4.5 4.1 5.3 4.7

18 2,860 1,882 1,715 0.8 0.5 0.4 1.8 2.4 1.9

19 429 291 292 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.6 1.9 1.4

20-24 125 143 247 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.2 1.5 1.2

25-54 104 144 365 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.0 1.1 1.1

55 or older 16 19 29 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.1 1.2 1.0

The pattern in independent schools was similar, although there were a few key differences. In particular, there were considerably higher percentages of entries by 15 year olds and 17 year olds than in comprehensives or grammar schools (apart from 15 year olds in 2009). There were very few changes in the percentages over time, only a slight rise in 16 year olds and slight fall in 15 and 17 year olds between 2000 and 2004. The number of exams taken by 16 year olds was very similar to that in comprehensives (around 8). However, 17 and 18 year olds took more GCSEs on average compared to comprehensives and grammars. In 2009 there were falls in the average number taken by 15 and 16 year olds compared to 2004. This is likely to be in part a consequence of these schools using IGCSEs as an alternative to GCSEs. The pattern in secondary moderns (Table 7) was similar to that in comprehensives. The vast majority of entries were by 16 year olds, and there were increases in entries by 14 and 15 year olds in 2004 compared to 2000 and between 2004 and 2009. Perhaps surprisingly, the percentage of entries by 15 year olds was higher in these schools in 2009 than it was in either independent or grammar schools. The number of GCSEs taken by 16 year olds was slightly lower on average than in comprehensives, and once again this number was lower in 2009 than in previous years.

Table 7: Entries by age (Secondary Modern Schools)


age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger

11-13 47 59 110 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.0 1.2 1.0

14 71 441 1737 0.0 0.2 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.1

15 1,202 3,396 15,552 0.7 1.8 7.6 1.4 1.4 1.4

16 159,192 185,138 182,592 97.4 96.6 89.6 7.9 8.3 7.0

17 2,465 2,217 2,893 1.5 1.2 1.4 2.0 2.0 2.0

18 284 350 529 0.2 0.2 0.3 1.3 1.3 1.3

19 46 30 123 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.0 1.2 1.2

20-24 20 22 44 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.3 1.1

25-54 72 67 159 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.0 1.0 1.1

55 or older 6 7 6 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.2 1.0

Table 8: Entries by age (FE Colleges)


age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 5 23 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.1 1.0

11-13 78 73 50 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.1 1.0 1.1

14 121 61 28 0.2 0.1 0.1 1.2 1.1 1.1

15 454 282 332 0.6 0.5 0.6 1.2 1.4 1.2

16 1,502 2,311 1,544 1.9 3.9 2.9 2.0 2.0 1.9

17 22,863 16,542 14,807 29.7 28.2 28.2 1.6 1.6 1.6

18 11,708 8,957 9,248 15.2 15.3 17.6 1.4 1.4 1.4

19 6,603 5,176 5,848 8.6 8.8 11.2 1.3 1.3 1.4

20-24 9,031 6,913 7,079 11.7 11.8 13.5 1.3 1.3 1.3

25-54 22,723 16,711 12,701 29.5 28.5 24.2 1.1 1.1 1.2

55 or older 1,938 1,570 778 2.5 2.7 1.5 1.0 1.0 1.0

Entries in FE colleges were quite different from those in schools. The highest percentages of entries were from 17 year olds, and from the 25-54 age band. There were also high numbers of over 18-24 year olds. There were very few entries from under 17 year olds, which is to be expected given there should not be many pupils in FE colleges below the age of 17. Over time there were not many changes, with just a slight increase in the percentage of entries by 18-24 year olds. The mean number of entries does not differ much between age groups, with most FE candidates taking only one or two GCSEs, whatever their age. Entries in sixth form colleges were mainly by 17 year olds, with a significant number of 18 year olds and a fairly high number of adult learners. As expected, there were very few entries by under 17 year olds. The only real changes in percentages over time were a fall in 17 year olds and an increase in 18 - 24 year olds in 2009. In terms of the number of GCSEs taken by candidates the 17 and 18 year olds generally only took 1 or 2 exams on average. These were likely to be either re-takes or an extra GCSE taken whist studying for A-levels.

Table 9: Entries by age (Sixth Form Colleges)


age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 1 . . 0.0 . . 1.0

11-13 20 24 27 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.1 1.1 1.0

14 48 39 56 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.1 1.0 1.2

15 140 135 114 0.4 0.4 0.3 1.3 1.6 1.5

16 616 709 712 1.6 2.0 2.1 2.5 2.6 2.8

17 26,646 22,661 20,216 68.1 65.5 59.8 1.5 1.5 1.4

18 6,572 6,148 7,020 16.8 17.8 20.8 1.3 1.3 1.2

19 2,102 2,073 2,626 5.4 6.0 7.8 1.3 1.3 1.2

20-24 1,031 896 1,388 2.6 2.6 4.1 1.3 1.3 1.3

25-54 1,792 1,739 1,522 4.6 5.0 4.5 1.1 1.1 1.1

55 or older 168 173 119 0.4 0.5 0.4 1.0 1.0 1.0

The pattern for tertiary colleges was similar to both FE and sixth form colleges. Most entries were by 17 and 18 year olds. However, there were a high number of entries by adult learners (although not as high as in FE colleges). There were higher percentages of 16 year old entries than FE or sixth form colleges. Again, most candidates (except those aged 16) only took one or two GCSEs.

Table 10: Entries by age (Tertiary Colleges)


age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 . . 0.0 . . 1.0 . .

11-13 15 1 2 0.1 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

14 10 4 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.5

15 85 59 10 0.4 0.4 0.1 1.2 1.1 1.3

16 1,238 1,423 772 5.8 9.4 6.4 5.0 3.6 2.2

17 9,203 5,606 5,004 43.5 37.2 41.6 1.4 1.3 1.2

18 3,505 2,650 2,420 16.6 17.6 20.1 1.3 1.2 1.2

19 1,477 1,251 1,203 7.0 8.3 10.0 1.3 1.3 1.2

20-24 1,585 1,176 1,040 7.5 7.8 8.6 1.3 1.2 1.2

25-54 3,727 2,643 1,499 17.6 17.5 12.5 1.2 1.1 1.2

55 or older 327 274 82 1.5 1.8 0.7 1.1 1.0 1.0

Key subjects Some subjects are obviously more important than others. For this reason the patterns of entries for the most common GCSE subjects are given in this report (full tables can be found in Appendix C). On the following pages the age distribution for entries in key subjects is presented.

Table 11: Entries by age (English)

Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 4 . 3 0.0 . 0.0

11-13 17 12 17 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 78 134 575 0.0 0.0 0.1

15 3,369 5,613 39,392 0.6 0.9 6.2

16 532,296 595,583 544,145 90.5 92.1 85.2

17 28,285 24,470 30,869 4.8 3.8 4.8

18 8,344 7,333 9,783 1.4 1.1 1.5

19 3,726 3,396 4,455 0.6 0.5 0.7

20-24 3,604 3,085 3,702 0.6 0.5 0.6

25-54 8,063 6,791 5,352 1.4 1.1 0.8

55 or older 376 328 204 0.1 0.1 0.0

For English GCSE (Table 11), entries were mainly by 16 year olds, but there were a substantial number by 17 and 18 year olds (these were likely to have been mostly re-takes). English was also popular amongst adult learners, presumably these were people getting a qualification to help them get into higher education or get a job. 2009 saw a big increase in entries by 15 year olds (up from 5,613 in 2004 to 39,392). Table 12: Entries by age (English Literature)

Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 2 . . 0.0

11-13 3 46 64 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 40 211 407 0.0 0.0 0.1

15 2,459 4,482 13,930 0.5 0.8 2.8

16 468,670 528,480 471,747 98.1 98.2 96.0

17 5,174 4,355 4,559 1.1 0.8 0.9

18 430 320 343 0.1 0.1 0.1

19 143 102 121 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 170 117 80 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 494 281 134 0.1 0.1 0.0

55 or older 58 34 25 0.0 0.0 0.0

In English Literature (Table 12), the vast majority of entries were by 16 year olds (96% or greater in each year), followed by 15 and 17 year olds. Again, there was a large increase in entries by 15 year olds in 2009 (13,930) compared to 2004 (4,482). Mathematics (Table 13) was the most popular subject taken by under 16 year olds. It was also taken by a significant percentage of 17 year olds (more than 5% in each year) and 18 year olds (around 2%). It was another subject popular amongst adult learners, again presumably to assist with getting a job or entry to higher education. As with the English subjects there was a large increase in the number of candidates taking Mathematics early in 2009 (over 50,000) compared with 2004 (around 15,000).

Table 13: Entries by age (Mathematics)

Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 14 24 14 0.0 0.0 0.0

11-13 165 172 303 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 507 808 5,040 0.1 0.1 0.7

15 11,958 14,513 52,408 1.9 2.1 7.6

16 529,448 594,738 565,552 85.9 87.8 81.5

17 39,301 35,796 35,777 6.4 5.3 5.2

18 12,549 11,094 13,042 2.0 1.6 1.9

19 5,268 4,714 5,488 0.9 0.7 0.8

20-24 5,542 4,747 5,548 0.9 0.7 0.8

25-54 11,160 10,691 10,330 1.8 1.6 1.5

55 or older 393 458 400 0.1 0.1 0.1

Table 14: Entries by age (Combined Science: Double, Core & Additional)

Number Percentage

age band 2000 (db) 2004 (db) 2009 (core) 2009 (add) 2000 2004 2009 (core) 2009 (add)

10 or younger . 2 . 0.0

11-13 4 1 7 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 38 57 670 12 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0

15 1,612 1,531 39,411 1,537 0.4 0.3 8.4 0.5

16 445,489 480,540 418,016 323,143 98.2 98.5 89.0 98.2

17 5,851 5,082 6,716 3,691 1.3 1.0 1.4 1.1

18 499 479 1,695 342 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.1

19 100 122 730 107 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0

20-24 55 68 835 87 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0

25-54 26 66 1,680 62 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0

55 or older . 1 31 2 . 0.0 0.0 0.0

The structure of combined science changed in 2007 with the end of Double Science and the introduction of separate Core and Additional Science (Vidal Rodeiro, 2010). Thus, Table 14 presents the numbers taking Double Science in 2000 and 2004 and those taking Core and Additional Science separately in 2009. A very high percentage of Double Science entries were by 16 year olds, with more 17 year olds than 15 year olds. There was a very similar pattern in Additional Science. However, Core Science was quite different, with a large percentage taking it at age 15. This makes sense, in that Core and Additional science are both modular, with Additional science building on knowledge gained in Core science. Thus, able pupils can take Core science a year early. Double Science and Additional Science were taken by very few adult learners, but Core science was reasonably popular.

Table 15: Entries by age (Separate sciences)

Biology Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 . . 0.0 . .

11-13 4 4 4 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 8 31 83 0.0 0.1 0.1

15 978 953 1047 2.3 2.0 1.1

16 38,066 43,323 87,643 89.5 91.1 93.7

17 2,243 1,929 2,083 5.3 4.1 2.2

18 535 509 684 1.3 1.1 0.7

19 202 240 446 0.5 0.5 0.5

20-24 225 311 508 0.5 0.7 0.5

25-54 255 257 1004 0.6 0.5 1.1

55 or older 11 7 11 0.0 0.0 0.0

Chemistry

Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 1 . . 0.0 .

11-13 5 5 1 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 13 20 40 0.0 0.0 0.0

15 845 711 928 2.1 1.6 1.1

16 37,330 42,795 82,765 91.4 93.8 96.4

17 1,783 1,397 1,412 4.4 3.1 1.6

18 312 310 285 0.8 0.7 0.3

19 106 121 161 0.3 0.3 0.2

20-24 181 116 132 0.4 0.3 0.2

25-54 275 148 142 0.7 0.3 0.2

55 or older 9 8 4 0.0 0.0 0.0

Physics

Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0

11-13 5 3 5 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 13 10 26 0.0 0.0 0.0

15 768 577 939 1.9 1.5 1.1

16 37,214 35,355 81,919 91.6 93.4 96.5

17 1,780 1,281 1,358 4.4 3.4 1.6

18 324 269 270 0.8 0.7 0.3

19 112 110 148 0.3 0.3 0.2

20-24 163 105 118 0.4 0.3 0.1

25-54 232 127 123 0.6 0.3 0.1

55 or older 5 3 3 0.0 0.0 0.0

The pattern amongst each of the separate sciences (Table 15) was very similar. Most entries were by 16 year olds, with a reasonable percentage of 17 year olds. The percentage of 16 year olds increased between 2000 and 2004 and between 2004 and 2009. The number of entries by 16 year olds approximately doubled in each subject between 2004 and 2009, whilst the number of 15 and 17 year olds increased only slightly.

Table 16: Entries by age (Geography)

Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 . . 0.0 . .

11-13 1 . . 0.0 . .

14 26 97 235 0.0 0.0 0.1

15 1,249 989 2,528 0.6 0.5 1.5

16 216,646 196,524 168,570 97.9 98.2 97.2

17 2,980 2,227 1,861 1.3 1.1 1.1

18 219 144 97 0.1 0.1 0.1

19 59 21 21 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 32 18 9 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 100 50 21 0.0 0.0 0.0

55 or older 8 7 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

Table 17: Entries by age (History)

Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 . . 0.0 . .

11-13 10 1 4 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 33 21 250 0.0 0.0 0.1

15 1,266 1,222 2,715 0.7 0.6 1.4

16 188,082 205,104 195,702 97.6 98.4 97.5

17 2,289 1,749 1,716 1.2 0.8 0.9

18 195 136 99 0.1 0.1 0.0

19 79 37 26 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 99 55 41 0.1 0.0 0.0

25-54 485 176 134 0.3 0.1 0.1

55 or older 81 37 23 0.0 0.0 0.0

Geography and History (Tables 16 and 17) had very high percentages of entries by 16 year olds, followed by 15 and 17 year olds. Neither was popular amongst adult learners. Again there were increases in both subjects in the number and percentage of candidates taking them a year early in 2009, compared to 2004. In both French and German (Tables 18 and 19), there were substantial percentages of early takers, mainly 15 year olds, but many at age 14. These two subjects were also the most popular for 11-13 year olds, along with Mathematics. Many of these candidates will be native speakers of the language. There was also a fair number taking them aged 25-54 (particularly in 2000 and 2004). Modern languages are popular as evening classes. Again there were substantial increases in percentages taking them early in 2009 compared to earlier years. Despite the large falls in the numbers of 16 year old pupils taking these in 2009 (as a consequence of a language no longer being compulsory at GCSE), there were substantial increases in the number of 14 and 15 year olds taking them.

Table 18: Entries by age (French)

Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 2 3 0.0 0.0 0.0

11-13 171 208 293 0.1 0.1 0.2

14 636 2,503 7,753 0.2 0.8 4.4

15 5,296 6,820 10,396 1.7 2.3 6.0

16 308,488 284,134 153,845 96.5 95.6 88.2

17 3,011 1,960 1,398 0.9 0.7 0.8

18 227 119 111 0.1 0.0 0.1

19 80 30 26 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 107 67 41 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 1,306 1,031 441 0.4 0.3 0.3

55 or older 435 283 146 0.1 0.1 0.1

Table 19: Entries by age (German)

Number Percentage

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 3 . 5 0.0 . 0.0

11-13 130 105 247 0.1 0.1 0.4

14 202 780 2,069 0.2 0.7 2.9

15 1,314 1,519 2,947 1.0 1.3 4.2

16 125,892 114,842 64,422 97.1 97.0 91.5

17 952 563 454 0.7 0.5 0.6

18 100 47 51 0.1 0.0 0.1

19 19 19 9 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 67 27 15 0.1 0.0 0.0

25-54 682 366 116 0.5 0.3 0.2

55 or older 240 125 58 0.2 0.1 0.1

15 year old pupils It is worth considering the 15 year old candidates in more detail, since there was such a large increase between 2004 and 2009. 15 year old candidates will either be accelerated pupils who have been moved up a school year, or pupils who take a few subjects a year early. Table 20 presents the distribution of the number of exams taken by 15 year olds in each year. The number of 15 year old candidates taking 6 or more GCSEs barely increased between 2004 and 2009. So the number of pupils advanced a year does not seem to have increased. Therefore the increase in 15 year olds was mainly those taking a few subjects a year early. Although the percentage of 15 year olds taking only one exam fell between 2004 and 2009, the number more than doubled. Both the number and percentage taking between 2 and 4 exams were considerably higher in 2009 than in 2000 or 2004. These increases may be partly due to the introduction of modular GCSEs, which allow pupils to take a qualification in a year, but it is not only this. Entries in the most popular linear specifications that were available in both 2004 and 2009 all increased substantially.

Table 20: Exams taken by 15 year old pupils

Candidates Percentage of candidates

Exams taken 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

1 27,211 51,327 139,069 80.6 83.4 74.3

2 3,328 6,682 34,757 9.9 10.9 18.6

3 827 1360 8,281 2.5 2.2 4.4

4 263 434 1,862 0.8 0.7 1.0

5 147 250 719 0.4 0.4 0.4

6 112 107 571 0.3 0.2 0.3

7 109 95 458 0.3 0.2 0.2

8 334 197 441 1.0 0.3 0.2

9 806 516 402 2.4 0.8 0.2

10 531 421 431 1.6 0.7 0.2

11 68 115 90 0.2 0.2 0.0

12 5 14 27 0.0 0.0 0.0

13 3 3 7 0.0 0.0 0.0

It is of interest to look at the most popular subjects taken by 15 year olds in each year. The top 10 in terms of entries are shown in Table 21: Table 21: Most popular GCSE subjects taken by 15 year old pupils 2000 2004 2009

Mathematics was the most popular subject in each year. French, Religious Studies, Statistics, English and English Literature also featured in the top 10 in each year. In all these subjects there were more entries in 2004 than 2000 and considerably more entries in 2009. Mathematics, English and Statistics had particularly large increases between 2004 and 2009. Core Science was also very popular amongst 15 year olds in 2009.

Subject Entries

Mathematics 11,958

French 5,296

Religious Studies 3,806

English 3,369

Statistics 3,264

English Literature 2,459

Science: Double 1,612

German 1,314

History 1,266

Geography 1,249

Subject Entries

Mathematics 52,408

Science (Core) 39,411

English 39,392

Statistics 34,101



French 10,398

Media/Film/TV 4,367

PE/Sports Studies 3,706

Office Technology 3,380

Subject Entries

Mathematics 14,513

Statistics 13,925

French 6,820

English 5,613



ICT 1,893


German 1,519

Science SA 1,405

Other ages The most popular subjects taken by candidates in other age bands are presented in the following tables 17 -19 year old candidates Table 22: Most popular GCSE subjects taken by 17 year old pupils 2000 2004 2009

Table 23: Most popular GCSE subjects taken by 18 year old pupils 2000 2004 2009

Table 24: Most popular GCSE subjects taken by 19 year old pupils 2000 2004 2009

Subject Entries

Mathematics 39,301

English 28,285

General Studies 10,078



French 3,011

Geography 2,980

Sociology 2,460

Science SA 2,434

Biology: Human 2,308

Subject Entries

Mathematics 35,789

English 30,884



Additional Science 3,691

Biology 2,082

Geography 1,861

History 1,716



Subject Entries

Mathematics 35,798

English 24,469




Science SA 2,483

Geography 2,227

French 1,960

Biology 1,930

History 1,749

Subject Entries

Mathematics 12,549

English 8,344

General Studies 908

Biology: Human 879

Spanish 829

Sociology 618

Art & Design 542

Biology 535

Science: Double 499

Science SA 495

Subject Entries

Mathematics 13,042

English 9,783


Biology 684

Psychology 386

Spanish 383

English Literature 343

Additional Science 342

Biology: Human 307

Sociology 300

Subject Entries

Mathematics 11,094

English 7,333

Science SA 718

Biology: Human 714

Spanish 522

Biology 509

Science: Double 479

General Studies 394

Psychology 393

Sociology 339

Subject Entries

Mathematics 5,268

English Language 3,726

Biology: Human 544

Sociology 246

Psychology 211

Biology 202

General Studies 189

Science SA 177

Law 162

ICT 145

Subject Entries

Mathematics 5,488


Science (Core) 730

Biology 446

Biology: Human 194

Psychology 171

Chemistry 161

Physics 148

Sociology 129


Subject Entries

Mathematics 4,714


Biology: Human 347

Science SA 264

Biology 240

Psychology 155

Sociology 127

Science: Double 122

Chemistry 121

Physics 110

For older teenagers Mathematics and English were by far the most popular subjects in all three years. Most of these are likely to be re-sits from candidates trying to improve their grades. For 17 year olds combined science and English Literature were also amongst the most popular in all years. Other popular subjects for 18 year olds included Human Biology and Spanish. For 19 year olds Human Biology was again in the top 10 in all years, as were Biology and Psychology. One subject that was popular to begin with but has shown a consistent decline for pupils of this age was General Studies. 14 year old candidates The most popular subjects taken by 14 year old candidates are presented in Table 25: Table 25: Most popular GCSE subjects taken by 14 year old pupils 2000 2004 2009

Modern languages were popular amongst the 14 year old pupils, particularly in 2000 and 2004. French was the most popular subject in all three years, with Spanish and German also featuring in all years. The other modern languages (Gujarati, Greek, Panjabi and Chinese) are likely to have been taken by native speakers. Mathematics and ICT (or office technology) were the other subjects popular in all three years. In 2004 and 2009 some arts subjects were popular, such as Expressive Arts, Performing Arts, Music and Art & Design.

Subject Entries

French 636

Mathematics 507

Science SA 370

Gujarati 253

Spanish 241

German 202

Modern Greek 199

Panjabi 185

ICT 184

Chinese 163

Subject Entries

French 7,753

Mathematics 5,040

Statistics 3,630

Expressive Arts And Performance Studies

2,809

Humanities: Single 2,739

Spanish 2,077

German 2,069

Media/Film/TV 1,838

Performing Arts 1,072

Office Technology 1,030

Subject Entries

French 2,503

Mathematics 808

German 780

Expressive Arts And Performance Studies

641

Spanish 627

Chinese 327

Applied ICT 309

Art & Design 299

Music 249

Science SA 237

11-13 year old candidates Table 26: Most popular GCSE subjects taken by 11-13 year old pupils 2000 2004 2009

For the 11-13 year old age group modern languages dominated. The only other subjects to get in the top 10 were Mathematics and ICT (2000 only). The languages in each year were fairly similar, with French the most popular in 2000 and 2004, and Polish in 2009. It is likely that the more unusual languages (e.g. Panjabi, Gujarati, Turkish) were taken by native speakers. This might also be the case with the more common French, German and Spanish, but they may also be taken by very gifted pupils. Adult candidates Table 27: Most popular GCSE subjects taken by candidates aged 20-24 years 2000 2004 2009

Subject Entries

French 171

Mathematics 165

Panjabi 165

Gujarati 136

German 130

Spanish 87

Modern Greek 81

Turkish 73

Chinese 68

ICT 50

Subject Entries

Polish 476

Spanish 313

Mathematics 303

French 293

German 247

Arabic 190

Chinese 188

Turkish 159

Portuguese 149

Panjabi 144

Subject Entries

French 208

Mathematics 172

Panjabi 145

Gujarati 133

Spanish 132

Chinese 116

Turkish 113

German 105

Arabic 81

Modern Greek 54

Subject Entries

Mathematics 5,542

English 3,604

Biology: Human 886

Psychology 487

Sociology 317

Law 301

Spanish 257

Biology 225

Accounting/Finance 219

Psychology (As A 202

Subject Entries

Mathematics 5,548

English 3,702

Science (Core) 835

Biology 508

Biology: Human 230

Psychology 153

Chemistry 132

Physics 118

Arabic 96

Spanish 91

Subject Entries

Mathematics 4,747

English 3,085

Biology: Human 738

Science SA 374

Psychology 343

Biology 311

Spanish 182

Sociology 129


Chemistry 116

Table 28: Most popular GCSE subjects taken by candidates aged 25-54 years 2000 2004 2009

For the 20-24 and 25-54 age groups Mathematics and English were the most popular subjects by a distance. These were presumably taken to improve the chances of getting into higher education or a job. It is interesting to note the consistent popularity of Human Biology in both age groups in all years. Psychology also features in the top 10 in all years. Modern languages were more popular amongst the older age group, with Spanish, French and Italian in the top 10 in all years. These subjects are often studied in evening classes. Sciences (particularly core science) were more popular in both age groups in 2009 than in previous years. Table 29: Most popular GCSE subjects taken by candidates aged 55 and older 2000 2004 2009

In the 55 and over group modern languages were again to the fore, particularly Spanish, French, Italian and German. Mathematics and English were again in the top 10, but were not as popular as in the younger adult age groups.

Subject Entries

Mathematics 11,160

English 8,063


Psychology 2,344

Spanish 2,079

French 1,306

Law 1,152

Sociology 1,050

Psychology (As A 904

Italian 902

Subject Entries

Mathematics 10,330

English 5,352


Spanish 1,242

Biology 1,004

Biology: Human 599

Psychology 560

Italian 495

French 441

Art & Design 174

Subject Entries

Mathematics 10,691

English 6,791

Spanish 2,282

Psychology 1,685


French 1,031

Italian 874

Law 426

German 366

Art & Design 282

Subject Entries

Spanish 674

Mathematics 458

Italian 352

English 328

French 283

German 125

Art & Design (Fine 92

Psychology 91

Biology: Human 48

Law 43

Subject Entries

Spanish 584

French 435

Mathematics 393

English 376

Italian 330

German 240

Psychology 109

Art & Design 85

Law 84

History 81

Subject Entries

Mathematics 400

Spanish 317

Italian 228

English 204

French 146

German 58

Psychology 34

Art & Design 31

Science (Core) 31


Appendix A: Example media reports on very young GCSE candidates 1) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/two-sixyearolds-are-taught-to-pass-gcses-now-parents-are-asking-how-and-at-what-cost-710439.html. In 2000, two 6 year olds passed ICT GCSE 2) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/youngest-gcse-prodigy-aged-5-says-he-wants-to-be-lorry-driver-666798.html. A six year old getting a grade D in Maths (foundation tier) in 2001. 3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3601604.stm. One 8 year old and one 10 year old boy getting grade As in Double Science in 2004 and also an 8 year old and a 9 year old girl getting a grade C in ICT 4) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/sixyearold-twins-youngest-to-get-gcse-413292.html. 6 year old twins passing maths and statistics (grades G and F) in 2006. 5) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209361/Careful-Mr-Brown-GCSE-namesake-trumps-Prime-Minister-grade-aged-eight.html An 8 year old boy getting a grade A* and a 6 year old boy a grade D in Maths, and two 7 year olds getting grades C in ICT in 2009.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/two-sixyearolds-are-taught-to-pass-gcses-now-parents-are-asking-how-and-at-what-cost-710439.html



http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/youngest-gcse-prodigy-aged-5-says-he-wants-to-be-lorry-driver-666798.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/youngest-gcse-prodigy-aged-5-says-he-wants-to-be-lorry-driver-666798.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3601604.stm

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/sixyearold-twins-youngest-to-get-gcse-413292.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/sixyearold-twins-youngest-to-get-gcse-413292.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209361/Careful-Mr-Brown-GCSE-namesake-trumps-Prime-Minister-grade-aged-eight.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209361/Careful-Mr-Brown-GCSE-namesake-trumps-Prime-Minister-grade-aged-eight.html

Appendix B: GCSE entries and candidates by age band and gender Entries by age band (female)


Age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 19 37 31 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

11-13 806 1030 1,901 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1

14 2,653 5,842 22,779 0.1 0.2 0.9 0.2 0.3 0.9

15 26,729 40,053 133,089 1.2 1.6 5.1 1.3 1.9 6.1

16 2,140,401 2,374,611 2,337,422 93.0 94.0 89.8 94.3 95.9 95.9

17 68,202 54,073 56,962 3.0 2.1 2.2 97.3 98.0 98.1

18 17,576 14,313 16,417 0.8 0.6 0.6 98.0 98.6 98.7

19 6,786 5,696 6,823 0.3 0.2 0.3 98.3 98.8 99.0

20-24 8,721 7,238 7,341 0.4 0.3 0.3 98.7 99.1 99.3

25-54 27,933 21,734 17,858 1.2 0.9 0.7 99.9 99.9 100.0

55 or older 1,952 1,778 1,062 0.1 0.1 0.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Entries by age band (male)


Age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 35 39 41 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

11-13 706 779 1,561 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1

14 2,222 4,893 19,479 0.1 0.2 0.8 0.1 0.2 0.8

15 27,515 42,572 130,068 1.2 1.7 5.2 1.4 2.0 6.0

16 2,109,725 2,312,748 2,277,620 93.6 94.4 90.3 94.9 96.3 96.2

17 74,823 58,193 61,216 3.3 2.4 2.4 98.2 98.7 98.7

18 16,489 13,145 15,359 0.7 0.5 0.6 99.0 99.3 99.3

19 6,345 5,278 6,542 0.3 0.2 0.3 99.2 99.5 99.5

20-24 5,601 4,165 5,011 0.2 0.2 0.2 99.5 99.6 99.7

25-54 10,299 7,621 5,902 0.5 0.3 0.2 99.9 100.0 100.0

55 or older 1,420 1,117 629 0.1 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Candidates by age band (female) Number Percentage Cumulative percentage

Age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 19 35 31 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1

11-13 775 995 1856 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.4

14 2,440 5,447 20,517 0.6 1.3 4.2 0.8 1.6 4.6

15 16,285 30,423 93,650 4.2 7.3 19.1 5.0 8.8 23.6

16 275,723 307,906 305,034 71.1 73.8 62.0 76.1 82.6 85.7

17 40,054 30,007 30,474 10.3 7.2 6.2 86.4 89.8 91.8

18 13,570 10,871 12,573 3.5 2.6 2.6 89.9 92.4 94.4

19 5,314 4,472 5,184 1.4 1.1 1.1 91.3 93.5 95.5

20-24 7,072 5,932 5,705 1.8 1.4 1.2 93.1 94.9 96.6

25-54 24,744 19,489 15,610 6.4 4.7 3.2 99.5 99.6 99.8

55 or older 1,884 1,703 1,030 0.5 0.4 0.2 100.0 100.0 100.0

Candidates by age band (male) Number Percentage Cumulative percentage

Age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 32 39 38 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1

11-13 681 751 1,531 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3

14 1,985 4,441 17,552 0.5 1.1 3.6 0.7 1.3 4.0

15 17,444 31,076 93,456 4.7 7.7 19.4 5.4 9.0 23.3

16 281,379 312,461 313,309 75.5 77.6 64.9 80.9 86.6 88.2

17 39,010 29,385 31,273 10.5 7.3 6.5 91.4 93.9 94.7

18 12,175 9,600 11,353 3.3 2.4 2.4 94.7 96.2 97.0

19 4,872 4,045 4,909 1.3 1.0 1.0 96.0 97.2 98.0

20-24 4,471 3,310 3,759 1.2 0.8 0.8 97.2 98.1 98.8

25-54 9,113 6,748 5,055 2.5 1.7 1.1 99.6 99.7 99.9

55 or older 1,358 1,085 591 0.4 0.3 0.1 100.0 100.0 100.0

Mean number of entries by age band and gender

Female Male

age band 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1

11-13 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

14 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1

15 1.7 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.4

16 8.5 8.7 7.8 8.2 8.3 7.3

17 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0

18 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4

19 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3

20-24 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3

25-54 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2

55 or older 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1

Appendix C: Subject entries by age

subject=Accounting/Finance

Number Percentage

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 1 1 . 0.0 0.2 .

14 7 3 . 0.3 0.5 .

15 27 17 . 1.1 2.8 .

16 223 128 . 9.2 21.2 .

17 691 102 . 28.5 16.9 .

18 226 37 . 9.3 6.1 .

19 110 21 . 4.5 3.5 .

20-24 219 51 . 9.0 8.4 .

25-54 901 240 . 37.2 39.7 .

55 or older 18 4 . 0.7 0.7 .

subject=Additional Mathematics

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 1 . . 0.0

14 . . 109 . . 0.7

15 4 5 1093 1.7 1.9 6.6

16 228 242 15149 97.4 92.7 91.0

17 1 14 208 0.4 5.4 1.2

18 1 . 37 0.4 . 0.2

19 . . 9 . . 0.1

20-24 . . 16 . . 0.1

25-54 . . 25 . . 0.2

55 or older . . 1 . . 0.0

subject=Agricultural & Horticultural Science

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 1 . . 0.2 . .

16 460 . . 98.5 . .

17 5 . . 1.1 . .

18 1 . . 0.2 . .

subject=Applied Art & Design

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . 1 18 . 0.0 0.3

15 . 2 9 . 0.1 0.2

16 . 2603 5754 . 97.3 97.7

17 . 58 83 . 2.2 1.4

18 . 9 9 . 0.3 0.2

19 . 2 2 . 0.1 0.0

20-24 . 1 6 . 0.0 0.1

25-54 . . 7 . . 0.1


subject=Applied Business

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 1 . . 0.0

11-13 . . 2 . . 0.0

15 . 19 156 . 0.1 1.1

16 . 16058 13679 . 95.4 95.5

17 . 618 428 . 3.7 3.0

18 . 80 47 . 0.5 0.3

19 . 26 14 . 0.2 0.1

20-24 . 16 3 . 0.1 0.0

25-54 . 13 1 . 0.1 0.0

subject=Applied Engineering

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 . 47 30 . 0.9 0.6

16 . 4947 4998 . 98.0 97.9

17 . 36 49 . 0.7 1.0

18 . 4 15 . 0.1 0.3

19 . 1 6 . 0.0 0.1

20-24 . 2 5 . 0.0 0.1

25-54 . 12 4 . 0.2 0.1

55 or older . 1 . . 0.0 .

subject=Applied ICT

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 1 . . 0.0 .

14 . 309 168 . 0.8 2.0

15 . 485 277 . 1.2 3.2

16 . 39441 7917 . 96.2 92.0

17 . 622 213 . 1.5 2.5

18 . 88 21 . 0.2 0.2

19 . 26 7 . 0.1 0.1

20-24 . 13 3 . 0.0 0.0

25-54 . 7 . . 0.0 .

55 or older . 1 . . 0.0 .

subject=Applied Physical Education

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 255 . . 5.5

15 . . 1017 . . 22.0

16 . . 3321 . . 71.9

17 . . 23 . . 0.5


subject=Applied Science

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 . 9 304 . 0.2 1.6

16 . 5297 18494 . 97.3 96.6

17 . 112 258 . 2.1 1.3

18 . 14 46 . 0.3 0.2

19 . 11 21 . 0.2 0.1

20-24 . 2 8 . 0.0 0.0

25-54 . 1 11 . 0.0 0.1

subject=Arabic

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 1 . . 0.0

11-13 39 81 190 3.4 4.6 6.1

14 83 148 387 7.2 8.3 12.4

15 242 395 679 20.9 22.2 21.8

16 508 763 1344 43.9 43.0 43.2

17 117 165 150 10.1 9.3 4.8

18 45 75 104 3.9 4.2 3.3

19 32 50 81 2.8 2.8 2.6

20-24 41 57 96 3.5 3.2 3.1

25-54 44 40 75 3.8 2.3 2.4

55 or older 5 2 7 0.4 0.1 0.2

subject=Archaeology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 1 . . 0.2 . .

15 6 9 . 1.4 2.9 .

16 41 77 . 9.6 25.0 .

17 81 22 . 19.0 7.1 .

18 34 9 . 8.0 2.9 .

19 7 2 . 1.6 0.6 .

20-24 20 9 . 4.7 2.9 .

25-54 210 148 . 49.2 48.1 .

55 or older 27 32 . 6.3 10.4 .

subject=Art

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 3 . . 0.0 . .

14 2 . . 0.0 . .

15 189 . . 0.8 . .

16 22993 . . 96.0 . .

17 594 . . 2.5 . .

18 78 . . 0.3 . .

19 10 . . 0.0 . .

20-24 11 . . 0.0 . .

25-54 54 . . 0.2 . .

55 or older 14 . . 0.1 . .


subject=Art & Design

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 1 . . 0.0

11-13 22 9 5 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 101 299 464 0.1 0.2 0.4

15 673 829 1610 0.6 0.7 1.5

16 117875 123849 104029 97.3 97.6 96.5

17 1947 1525 1409 1.6 1.2 1.3

18 247 187 167 0.2 0.1 0.2

19 72 53 50 0.1 0.0 0.0

20-24 52 16 11 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 151 56 57 0.1 0.0 0.1

55 or older 51 20 31 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Art & Design (3d Studies)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 1 . . 0.0 . .

14 3 10 30 0.1 0.2 1.0

15 43 67 73 0.9 1.6 2.5

16 4155 3845 2736 87.7 93.4 93.0

17 292 130 77 6.2 3.2 2.6

18 64 23 19 1.4 0.6 0.6

19 19 4 2 0.4 0.1 0.1

20-24 17 4 2 0.4 0.1 0.1

25-54 120 26 4 2.5 0.6 0.1

55 or older 26 7 . 0.5 0.2 .

subject=Art & Design (Critical Studies)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 4 . . 0.5 . .

16 17 . . 2.2 . .

17 359 . . 46.0 . .

18 188 . . 24.1 . .

19 108 . . 13.8 . .

20-24 47 . . 6.0 . .

25-54 47 . . 6.0 . .

55 or older 10 . . 1.3 . .

subject=Art & Design (Drawing & Painting)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 3 . . 0.0 . .

14 11 . . 0.0 . .

15 281 1 . 1.2 1.1 .

16 22307 78 . 94.6 83.9 .

17 587 10 . 2.5 10.8 .

18 97 1 . 0.4 1.1 .

19 31 2 . 0.1 2.2 .

20-24 28 1 . 0.1 1.1 .

25-54 139 . . 0.6 . .

55 or older 85 . . 0.4 . .


subject=Art & Design (Fine Art)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 2 . . 0.0

14 . 34 114 . 0.1 0.2

15 . 356 940 . 0.7 2.0

16 . 47863 45485 . 97.0 95.8

17 . 729 783 . 1.5 1.6

18 . 104 76 . 0.2 0.2

19 . 27 10 . 0.1 0.0

20-24 . 19 12 . 0.0 0.0

25-54 . 95 41 . 0.2 0.1

55 or older . 92 12 . 0.2 0.0

subject=Art & Design (Graphics)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . 2 . . 0.0 .

14 1 15 8 0.0 0.3 0.1

15 104 44 228 2.3 0.9 4.1

16 4061 4645 5181 90.0 94.4 93.0

17 224 142 107 5.0 2.9 1.9

18 45 42 22 1.0 0.9 0.4

19 22 13 11 0.5 0.3 0.2

20-24 21 14 8 0.5 0.3 0.1

25-54 31 5 2 0.7 0.1 0.0

55 or older 2 . 1 0.0 . 0.0

subject=Art & Design (Photography)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 5 1 3 0.1 0.0 0.0

14 11 13 70 0.2 0.3 0.9

15 54 74 300 1.1 1.9 3.9

16 2005 2415 6288 40.2 61.9 81.9

17 1713 682 564 34.4 17.5 7.3

18 542 221 165 10.9 5.7 2.1

19 136 98 49 2.7 2.5 0.6

20-24 127 91 61 2.5 2.3 0.8

25-54 348 282 174 7.0 7.2 2.3

55 or older 42 26 7 0.8 0.7 0.1

subject=Art & Design (Pottery)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 15 . . 2.4 . .

16 542 . . 88.4 . .

17 43 . . 7.0 . .

18 8 . . 1.3 . .

25-54 5 . . 0.8 . .


subject=Art & Design (Printing)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 62 . . 74.7 . .

17 6 . . 7.2 . .

18 10 . . 12.0 . .

25-54 5 . . 6.0 . .

subject=Art & Design (Textiles)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . 1 57 . 0.0 1.0

15 24 33 155 0.5 0.7 2.7

16 4943 4648 5414 94.3 96.3 94.0

17 164 104 100 3.1 2.2 1.7

18 44 17 14 0.8 0.4 0.2

19 18 6 4 0.3 0.1 0.1

20-24 8 1 3 0.2 0.0 0.1

25-54 40 14 8 0.8 0.3 0.1

55 or older 3 1 2 0.1 0.0 0.0

subject=Astronomy

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 1 . . 0.1

11-13 1 4 34 0.3 0.7 1.7

14 11 21 276 3.6 3.8 13.9

15 39 149 586 12.7 26.6 29.5

16 29 135 815 9.4 24.1 41.0

17 108 67 117 35.1 12.0 5.9

18 30 35 50 9.7 6.3 2.5

19 4 4 10 1.3 0.7 0.5

20-24 12 12 9 3.9 2.1 0.5

25-54 63 103 71 20.5 18.4 3.6

55 or older 11 30 19 3.6 5.4 1.0

subject=Bengali

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 2 1 . 0.1 0.1

11-13 5 18 38 0.2 0.9 2.7

14 26 71 119 1.2 3.7 8.6

15 127 111 188 6.0 5.8 13.6

16 1841 1585 984 87.3 83.4 71.0

17 49 38 31 2.3 2.0 2.2

18 11 8 9 0.5 0.4 0.6

19 6 5 . 0.3 0.3 .

20-24 12 9 3 0.6 0.5 0.2

25-54 31 54 9 1.5 2.8 0.6

55 or older . . 3 . . 0.2


subject=Biology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 . . 0.0 . .

11-13 4 4 4 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 8 31 83 0.0 0.1 0.1

15 978 953 1047 2.3 2.0 1.1

16 38066 43323 87643 89.5 91.1 93.7

17 2243 1929 2083 5.3 4.1 2.2

18 535 509 684 1.3 1.1 0.7

19 202 240 446 0.5 0.5 0.5

20-24 225 311 508 0.5 0.7 0.5

25-54 255 257 1004 0.6 0.5 1.1

55 or older 11 7 11 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Biology: Human

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 3 1 9 0.0 0.0 0.3

14 8 5 61 0.1 0.1 1.8

15 153 26 73 1.9 0.5 2.1

16 951 914 1571 11.7 15.9 45.1

17 2308 1401 425 28.4 24.4 12.2

18 879 714 307 10.8 12.4 8.8

19 544 347 194 6.7 6.0 5.6

20-24 886 738 230 10.9 12.8 6.6

25-54 2358 1556 599 29.0 27.1 17.2

55 or older 45 48 13 0.6 0.8 0.4

subject= Business Studies: Single

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 1 . . 0.0 . .

14 6 4 56 0.0 0.0 0.1

15 281 282 1130 0.3 0.4 1.5

16 80532 78078 71123 96.9 97.8 96.2

17 1593 1129 1308 1.9 1.4 1.8

18 272 209 192 0.3 0.3 0.3

19 88 60 51 0.1 0.1 0.1

20-24 100 49 43 0.1 0.1 0.1

25-54 245 60 44 0.3 0.1 0.1

55 or older 4 2 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Business Studies & Economics

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 1 . . 0.0 . .

15 10 11 9 0.3 0.3 0.3

16 3712 4096 2570 96.4 98.0 97.2

17 97 59 63 2.5 1.4 2.4

18 16 8 2 0.4 0.2 0.1

19 10 4 . 0.3 0.1 .

20-24 5 2 . 0.1 0.0 .

55 or older . . 1 . . 0.0


subject=Catering Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 92 . . 0.8

15 . . 235 . . 2.0

16 1522 2004 11074 98.1 97.9 96.2

17 24 42 101 1.5 2.1 0.9

18 4 2 8 0.3 0.1 0.1

19 1 . 1 0.1 . 0.0

25-54 . . 2 . . 0.0

subject=Cdt: Design & Realisation

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 14 . . 4.9 . .

16 264 . . 92.6 . .

17 7 . . 2.5 . .

subject=Chemistry

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 1 . . 0.0 .

11-13 5 5 1 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 13 20 40 0.0 0.0 0.0

15 845 711 928 2.1 1.6 1.1

16 37330 42795 82765 91.4 93.8 96.4

17 1783 1397 1412 4.4 3.1 1.6

18 312 310 285 0.8 0.7 0.3

19 106 121 161 0.3 0.3 0.2

20-24 181 116 132 0.4 0.3 0.2

25-54 275 148 142 0.7 0.3 0.2

55 or older 9 8 4 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Chinese

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 1 . 0.0 0.0 .

11-13 68 116 188 3.2 4.0 5.9

14 163 327 424 7.7 11.3 13.2

15 458 783 814 21.6 27.1 25.4

16 691 1026 1180 32.6 35.6 36.8

17 450 449 386 21.2 15.6 12.0

18 193 117 130 9.1 4.1 4.1

19 57 31 20 2.7 1.1 0.6

20-24 23 8 8 1.1 0.3 0.2

25-54 11 24 50 0.5 0.8 1.6

55 or older 3 2 8 0.1 0.1 0.2


subject=Classical Civilisation

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 1 . . 0.0 . .

14 51 36 45 1.4 0.9 1.1

15 120 70 161 3.2 1.7 3.9

16 3432 3984 3752 91.0 94.5 91.4

17 137 102 127 3.6 2.4 3.1

18 9 5 12 0.2 0.1 0.3

19 1 2 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 . 1 1 . 0.0 0.0

25-54 15 12 5 0.4 0.3 0.1

55 or older 6 3 1 0.2 0.1 0.0

subject=Classical Greek

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 5 1 . 0.4 0.1 .

14 8 10 4 0.7 1.1 0.4

15 142 118 62 12.5 12.4 5.7

16 868 744 940 76.2 78.2 85.9

17 52 39 39 4.6 4.1 3.6

18 47 29 37 4.1 3.0 3.4

19 6 4 1 0.5 0.4 0.1

20-24 . 1 . . 0.1 .

25-54 4 3 4 0.4 0.3 0.4

55 or older 7 2 7 0.6 0.2 0.6

subject=Commerce/Office Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 1 . . 0.0 . .

14 131 . . 1.2 . .

15 229 . . 2.2 . .

16 9628 . . 90.6 . .

17 381 . . 3.6 . .

18 94 . . 0.9 . .

19 17 . . 0.2 . .

20-24 30 . . 0.3 . .

25-54 108 . . 1.0 . .

55 or older 3 . . 0.0 . .

subject=Communication Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 9 . . 0.8 . .

16 378 . . 31.5 . .

17 613 . . 51.1 . .

18 127 . . 10.6 . .

19 33 . . 2.8 . .

20-24 27 . . 2.3 . .

25-54 12 . . 1.0 . .

55 or older 1 . . 0.1 . .


subject=Construction & The Built Environment

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 1 . . 0.1

15 . . 35 . . 3.4

16 . . 970 . . 95.3

17 . . 5 . . 0.5

18 . . 6 . . 0.6

19 . . 1 . . 0.1

subject=Craft

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 5 . . 38.5 . .

17 8 . . 61.5 . .

subject=D&T Electronic Products

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 9 . 1 0.0 . 0.0

15 58 86 287 0.3 0.5 2.4

16 18925 18265 11609 99.0 99.0 96.8

17 121 82 84 0.6 0.4 0.7

18 9 3 5 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 1 2 . 0.0 0.0 .

25-54 2 6 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

55 or older . 2 . . 0.0 .

subject=D&T Electronic Products and Business Studies(Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 1 . . 1.1 . .

15 1 . . 1.1 . .

16 84 . . 94.4 . .

17 2 . . 2.2 . .

18 1 . . 1.1 . .

subject=D&T Engineering

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 3 . 38 0.1 . 5.7

16 3557 1327 622 98.7 98.7 94.0

17 42 15 2 1.2 1.1 0.3

18 1 2 . 0.0 0.1 .

subject=D&T Food Technology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 2 1 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 5 2 171 0.0 0.0 0.3

15 579 421 1045 0.5 0.4 1.6

16 106620 102247 65408 98.7 99.1 97.4

17 693 521 478 0.6 0.5 0.7

18 51 15 8 0.0 0.0 0.0

19 17 3 4 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 7 . 2 0.0 . 0.0

25-54 17 . 17 0.0 . 0.0

55 or older 1 . 3 0.0 . 0.0


subject=D&T Food Technology & Business Studies (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 692 . . 99.7 . .

17 2 . . 0.3 . .

subject=D&T Graphic Products

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . 3 18 . 0.0 0.0

14 1 64 328 0.0 0.1 0.6

15 434 1084 1303 0.4 1.1 2.3

16 98065 100647 54818 98.8 98.2 96.3

17 732 597 443 0.7 0.6 0.8

18 40 54 27 0.0 0.1 0.0

19 5 3 . 0.0 0.0 .

20-24 1 2 . 0.0 0.0 .

25-54 3 . 4 0.0 . 0.0

subject=D&T Graphic Products & Business Studies (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 3 . . 0.3 . .

16 1056 . . 99.6 . .

17 1 . . 0.1 . .

subject=D&T Product Design

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 1 . . 0.0

14 . 34 361 . 0.2 1.3

15 . 299 1285 . 2.1 4.8

16 . 13592 24860 . 96.9 93.0

17 . 99 220 . 0.7 0.8

18 . 5 12 . 0.0 0.0

19 . . 2 . . 0.0

25-54 . . 1 . . 0.0

subject=D&T Resistant Materials

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . 2 3 . 0.0 0.0

14 17 90 617 0.0 0.1 0.8

15 489 993 1578 0.4 0.9 2.1

16 113243 105934 72321 98.5 98.1 95.8

17 1142 961 886 1.0 0.9 1.2

18 85 39 61 0.1 0.0 0.1

19 12 3 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 1 . 1 0.0 . 0.0

25-54 7 13 7 0.0 0.0 0.0

55 or older 1 1 . 0.0 0.0 .


subject=D&T Resistant Materials Technology & Business Studies (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 1 . . 0.0 . .

15 4 . . 0.2 . .

16 2357 . . 98.7 . .

17 25 . . 1.0 . .

18 1 . . 0.0 . .

subject=D&T Systems And Control

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 1 2 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

15 103 161 67 0.7 1.2 1.1

16 15040 13419 6002 98.5 98.2 98.2

17 118 69 40 0.8 0.5 0.7

18 4 2 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 . 2 . . 0.0 .

25-54 . 7 . . 0.1 .

55 or older . 1 . . 0.0 .

subject=D&T Textiles Technology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 4 6 91 0.0 0.0 0.2

15 180 224 794 0.4 0.4 2.0

16 43555 52132 38932 98.3 99.0 97.0

17 500 263 274 1.1 0.5 0.7

18 42 13 18 0.1 0.0 0.0

19 14 1 3 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 4 . 2 0.0 . 0.0

25-54 19 4 9 0.0 0.0 0.0

55 or older 3 . 2 0.0 . 0.0

subject=D&T Textiles Technology & Business Studies (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 92 . . 100.0 . .

subject=Dance

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 1 . . 0.0

11-13 6 . 17 0.1 . 0.1

14 36 . 117 0.6 . 0.7

15 291 . 823 4.6 . 5.0

16 5467 . 15113 86.4 . 92.6

17 333 . 191 5.3 . 1.2

18 109 . 43 1.7 . 0.3

19 29 . 14 0.5 . 0.1

20-24 28 . 7 0.4 . 0.0

25-54 24 . 2 0.4 . 0.0

55 or older 4 . . 0.1 . .


subject=Design & Technology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 158 . . 3.9

15 26 29 66 0.9 0.7 1.6

16 2731 4398 3807 98.3 99.0 94.0

17 21 15 18 0.8 0.3 0.4

19 . . 1 . . 0.0

25-54 . . 2 . . 0.0

subject=Design & Technology & Catering (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 109 . . 92.4 . .

17 8 . . 6.8 . .

18 1 . . 0.8 . .

subject=Drama And Theatre Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 8 12 3 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 63 103 369 0.1 0.1 0.4

15 1087 1242 1550 1.3 1.3 1.8

16 83602 92292 84690 96.7 97.6 96.9

17 1384 811 714 1.6 0.9 0.8

18 194 57 44 0.2 0.1 0.1

19 37 15 14 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 40 13 5 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 61 19 10 0.1 0.0 0.0

55 or older 5 3 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Dutch

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 1 . . 0.3 .

11-13 20 42 122 11.8 13.9 17.5

14 22 47 116 13.0 15.6 16.6

15 30 82 168 17.8 27.2 24.0

16 49 97 224 29.0 32.1 32.0

17 10 20 30 5.9 6.6 4.3

18 4 4 9 2.4 1.3 1.3

19 2 1 7 1.2 0.3 1.0

20-24 3 1 6 1.8 0.3 0.9

25-54 20 5 16 11.8 1.7 2.3

55 or older 9 2 1 5.3 0.7 0.1

subject=Economics

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 1 . 4 0.0 . 0.1

15 63 66 59 1.2 1.9 2.1

16 4782 3287 2596 88.1 95.7 92.0

17 510 60 144 9.4 1.7 5.1

18 44 16 8 0.8 0.5 0.3

19 8 2 3 0.1 0.1 0.1

20-24 8 2 2 0.1 0.1 0.1

25-54 9 . 7 0.2 . 0.2

55 or older 3 . . 0.1 . .


subject=Electronics

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . 1 . . 0.1 .

14 3 . 2 0.4 . 0.3

15 10 19 52 1.2 2.5 8.0

16 806 677 543 94.4 88.2 83.5

17 28 56 39 3.3 7.3 6.0

18 3 8 7 0.4 1.0 1.1

19 3 1 2 0.4 0.1 0.3

20-24 1 2 2 0.1 0.3 0.3

25-54 . 3 2 . 0.4 0.3

55 or older . 1 1 . 0.1 0.2

subject=English Language And Literature

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 4 . 3 0.0 . 0.0

11-13 17 12 17 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 78 134 575 0.0 0.0 0.1

15 3369 5613 39392 0.6 0.9 6.2

16 532296 595583 544145 90.5 92.1 85.2

17 28285 24470 30869 4.8 3.8 4.8

18 8344 7333 9783 1.4 1.1 1.5

19 3726 3396 4455 0.6 0.5 0.7

20-24 3604 3085 3702 0.6 0.5 0.6

25-54 8063 6791 5352 1.4 1.1 0.8

55 or older 376 328 204 0.1 0.1 0.0

subject=English Literature

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 2 . . 0.0

11-13 3 46 64 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 40 211 407 0.0 0.0 0.1

15 2459 4482 13930 0.5 0.8 2.8

16 468670 528480 471747 98.1 98.2 96.0

17 5174 4355 4559 1.1 0.8 0.9

18 430 320 343 0.1 0.1 0.1

19 143 102 121 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 170 117 80 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 494 281 134 0.1 0.1 0.0

55 or older 58 34 25 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=English Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 . . 203 . . 6.6

16 . . 2754 . . 89.5

17 . . 74 . . 2.4

18 . . 36 . . 1.2

19 . . 8 . . 0.3

20-24 . . 1 . . 0.0


subject=Environmental Science

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . 69 88 . 10.0 3.1

15 . 87 61 . 12.6 2.2

16 . 297 2476 . 43.1 88.2

17 . 170 114 . 24.7 4.1

18 . 31 38 . 4.5 1.4

19 . 10 12 . 1.5 0.4

20-24 . 7 12 . 1.0 0.4

25-54 . 17 7 . 2.5 0.2

55 or older . 1 . . 0.1 .

subject=Environmental Studies. Single

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 4 113 . 0.3 80.1 .

16 1190 28 . 96.4 19.9 .

17 34 . . 2.8 . .

18 5 . . 0.4 . .

19 1 . . 0.1 . .

subject=Expressive Arts And Performance Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . 10 92 . 0.0 1.2

14 15 641 2809 0.1 2.8 35.2

15 99 923 703 0.9 4.1 8.8

16 10869 20467 4298 97.3 90.5 53.9

17 123 376 50 1.1 1.7 0.6

18 48 119 14 0.4 0.5 0.2

19 4 37 2 0.0 0.2 0.0

20-24 4 28 3 0.0 0.1 0.0

25-54 5 24 1 0.0 0.1 0.0

55 or older . 2 . . 0.0 .

subject=Film Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 131 . . 11.2

15 . . 329 . . 28.1

16 . . 432 . . 36.9

17 . . 166 . . 14.2

18 . . 67 . . 5.7

19 . . 33 . . 2.8

20-24 . . 10 . . 0.9

25-54 . . 2 . . 0.2


subject=French

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 2 3 0.0 0.0 0.0

11-13 171 208 293 0.1 0.1 0.2

14 636 2503 7753 0.2 0.8 4.4

15 5296 6820 10396 1.7 2.3 6.0

16 308488 284134 153845 96.5 95.6 88.2

17 3011 1960 1398 0.9 0.7 0.8

18 227 119 111 0.1 0.0 0.1

19 80 30 26 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 107 67 41 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 1306 1031 441 0.4 0.3 0.3

55 or older 435 283 146 0.1 0.1 0.1

subject=French & Business Studies (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 699 . . 100.0 . .

subject=General Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 1 1 3 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 2 44 77 0.0 0.6 0.9

15 36 156 1132 0.3 2.2 12.8

16 1107 3164 5789 8.9 45.5 65.3

17 10078 3070 1539 80.9 44.1 17.4

18 908 394 209 7.3 5.7 2.4

19 189 67 54 1.5 1.0 0.6

20-24 64 29 38 0.5 0.4 0.4

25-54 67 27 22 0.5 0.4 0.2

55 or older . 3 1 . 0.0 0.0

subject=Geography

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 . . 0.0 . .

11-13 1 . . 0.0 . .

14 26 97 235 0.0 0.0 0.1

15 1249 989 2528 0.6 0.5 1.5

16 216646 196524 168570 97.9 98.2 97.2

17 2980 2227 1861 1.3 1.1 1.1

18 219 144 97 0.1 0.1 0.1

19 59 21 21 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 32 18 9 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 100 50 21 0.0 0.0 0.0

55 or older 8 7 2 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Geography & History (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 14 . . 7.2 . .

16 177 . . 91.2 . .

17 2 . . 1.0 . .

18 1 . . 0.5 . .


subject=Geology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 1 . . 0.2

14 24 15 17 2.5 2.9 2.7

15 21 31 16 2.2 6.0 2.5

16 678 448 578 71.1 86.3 91.7

17 177 13 6 18.6 2.5 1.0

18 28 2 7 2.9 0.4 1.1

19 3 . 1 0.3 . 0.2

20-24 1 1 . 0.1 0.2 .

25-54 17 5 1 1.8 1.0 0.2

55 or older 4 4 3 0.4 0.8 0.5

subject=German

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 3 . 5 0.0 . 0.0

11-13 130 105 247 0.1 0.1 0.4

14 202 780 2069 0.2 0.7 2.9

15 1314 1519 2947 1.0 1.3 4.2

16 125892 114842 64422 97.1 97.0 91.5

17 952 563 454 0.7 0.5 0.6

18 100 47 51 0.1 0.0 0.1

19 19 19 9 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 67 27 15 0.1 0.0 0.0

25-54 682 366 116 0.5 0.3 0.2

55 or older 240 125 58 0.2 0.1 0.1

subject=German & Business Studies (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 119 . . 100.0 . .

subject=Government And Politics

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 2 . . 0.7 . .

16 173 . . 58.2 . .

17 83 . . 27.9 . .

18 19 . . 6.4 . .

19 8 . . 2.7 . .

20-24 6 . . 2.0 . .

25-54 6 . . 2.0 . .


subject=Gujarati

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 2 2 . 0.1 0.2 .

11-13 136 133 71 9.7 11.6 8.2

14 253 206 177 18.0 17.9 20.6

15 425 364 260 30.2 31.7 30.2

16 453 385 282 32.2 33.5 32.8

17 65 25 39 4.6 2.2 4.5

18 18 6 18 1.3 0.5 2.1

19 5 1 1 0.4 0.1 0.1

20-24 7 3 . 0.5 0.3 .

25-54 43 22 12 3.1 1.9 1.4

55 or older 1 1 1 0.1 0.1 0.1

subject=Health & Social Care

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 2 . . 0.0

14 . 6 12 . 0.0 0.1

15 . 85 53 . 0.5 0.2

16 . 16842 21701 . 96.7 97.0

17 . 362 461 . 2.1 2.1

18 . 54 80 . 0.3 0.4

19 . 8 23 . 0.0 0.1

20-24 . 15 5 . 0.1 0.0

25-54 . 41 34 . 0.2 0.2

55 or older . . 1 . . 0.0

subject=History

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 . . 0.0 . .

11-13 10 1 4 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 33 21 250 0.0 0.0 0.1

15 1266 1222 2715 0.7 0.6 1.4

16 188082 205104 195702 97.6 98.4 97.5

17 2289 1749 1716 1.2 0.8 0.9

18 195 136 99 0.1 0.1 0.0

19 79 37 26 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 99 55 41 0.1 0.0 0.0

25-54 485 176 134 0.3 0.1 0.1

55 or older 81 37 23 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Home Economics

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 . 5 9 . 83.3 100.0

17 . 1 . . 16.7 .


subject=Home Economics: Child Development

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . 7 23 . 0.0 0.1

15 37 53 296 0.1 0.2 1.3

16 28282 29536 22677 98.4 98.6 97.2

17 242 242 254 0.8 0.8 1.1

18 56 44 43 0.2 0.1 0.2

19 9 16 12 0.0 0.1 0.1

20-24 21 14 9 0.1 0.0 0.0

25-54 101 43 16 0.4 0.1 0.1

55 or older 1 . . 0.0 . .

subject=Home Economics: Consumer Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 40 . . 97.6 . .

17 1 . . 2.4 . .

subject=Home Economics: Food

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 1 . 23 0.0 . 0.3

15 60 49 157 0.9 1.0 1.9

16 6265 4619 7918 93.7 95.7 95.7

17 266 143 167 4.0 3.0 2.0

18 39 11 10 0.6 0.2 0.1

19 5 2 . 0.1 0.0 .

20-24 6 . 1 0.1 . 0.0

25-54 31 2 2 0.5 0.0 0.0

55 or older 11 1 . 0.2 0.0 .

subject=Home Economics: Textiles

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 8 . . 5.6

15 11 2 34 1.6 0.5 23.9

16 650 387 98 93.7 94.6 69.0

17 29 17 2 4.2 4.2 1.4

18 4 2 . 0.6 0.5 .

19 . 1 . . 0.2 .

subject=Hospitality & Catering

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 75 . . 5.9

15 . . 27 . . 2.1

16 . . 1138 . . 89.7

17 . . 23 . . 1.8

18 . . 3 . . 0.2

25-54 . . 2 . . 0.2

55 or older . . 1 . . 0.1


subject=Humanities: Single

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . 2 . . 0.0 .

14 . 169 2739 . 1.0 17.0

15 261 541 940 1.4 3.1 5.8

16 17863 16521 11909 96.8 94.1 73.9

17 275 226 358 1.5 1.3 2.2

18 32 68 98 0.2 0.4 0.6

19 9 18 49 0.0 0.1 0.3

20-24 5 7 13 0.0 0.0 0.1

25-54 13 6 10 0.1 0.0 0.1

55 or older 2 . . 0.0 . .

subject=IT & Business Studies (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 28 . . 0.6 . .

16 4896 . . 97.3 . .

17 85 . . 1.7 . .

18 9 . . 0.2 . .

19 1 . . 0.0 . .

20-24 5 . . 0.1 . .

25-54 8 . . 0.2 . .

subject=Industrial Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 503 . . 96.0 . .

17 20 . . 3.8 . .

18 1 . . 0.2 . .

subject=Information And Communications Technology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 17 7 5 0.0 0.0 0.0

11-13 50 28 21 0.1 0.0 0.0

14 184 229 345 0.3 0.3 0.6

15 1007 1893 2303 1.6 2.3 4.0

16 59857 79551 53042 93.8 95.1 92.7

17 1916 1500 1104 3.0 1.8 1.9

18 333 251 239 0.5 0.3 0.4

19 145 79 86 0.2 0.1 0.2

20-24 83 46 51 0.1 0.1 0.1

25-54 205 37 20 0.3 0.0 0.0

55 or older 12 4 . 0.0 0.0 .

subject=Information Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 21 . . 0.1 . .

14 8 . . 0.0 . .

15 437 . . 2.1 . .

16 20092 . . 95.1 . .

17 367 . . 1.7 . .

18 82 . . 0.4 . .

19 22 . . 0.1 . .

20-24 18 . . 0.1 . .

25-54 80 . . 0.4 . .

55 or older 4 . . 0.0 . .


subject=Irish

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 1 . . 50.0

15 . 2 1 . 66.7 50.0

16 . 1 . . 33.3 .

18 1 . . 12.5 . .

25-54 6 . . 75.0 . .

55 or older 1 . . 12.5 . .

subject=Italian

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 1 2 . 0.0 0.0

11-13 31 43 94 0.6 0.8 1.8

14 72 88 307 1.4 1.5 5.8

15 215 352 380 4.1 6.2 7.2

16 2315 3128 2967 44.5 55.1 56.3

17 702 472 482 13.5 8.3 9.1

18 493 252 253 9.5 4.4 4.8

19 55 39 34 1.1 0.7 0.6

20-24 89 80 32 1.7 1.4 0.6

25-54 902 874 495 17.3 15.4 9.4

55 or older 330 352 228 6.3 6.2 4.3subject=Japanese

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 2 2 0.2 0.2 0.1

11-13 17 26 44 2.8 2.7 3.0

14 40 40 59 6.5 4.2 4.0

15 92 107 178 15.1 11.3 12.1

16 299 527 871 48.9 55.5 59.1

17 73 91 107 11.9 9.6 7.3

18 36 63 104 5.9 6.6 7.1

19 7 13 33 1.1 1.4 2.2

20-24 6 17 18 1.0 1.8 1.2

25-54 33 57 48 5.4 6.0 3.3

55 or older 7 6 9 1.1 0.6 0.6

subject=Latin

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 1 . . 0.0

11-13 14 10 2 0.1 0.1 0.0

14 67 109 54 0.7 1.1 0.6

15 1053 893 674 10.3 9.4 7.3

16 8604 8272 8276 84.4 86.7 89.4

17 254 124 141 2.5 1.3 1.5

18 112 70 61 1.1 0.7 0.7

19 13 8 9 0.1 0.1 0.1

20-24 6 9 7 0.1 0.1 0.1

25-54 42 25 23 0.4 0.3 0.2

55 or older 26 23 10 0.3 0.2 0.1


subject=Law

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . 1 . . 0.1 .

14 5 . 7 0.1 . 0.3

15 28 63 204 0.8 3.2 9.1

16 347 575 1658 10.0 29.2 74.2

17 1027 471 195 29.7 24.0 8.7

18 354 204 46 10.2 10.4 2.1

19 162 71 29 4.7 3.6 1.3

20-24 301 112 29 8.7 5.7 1.3

25-54 1152 426 61 33.3 21.7 2.7

55 or older 84 43 7 2.4 2.2 0.3

subject=Leisure & Tourism

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 54 . . 0.6

15 . 57 25 . 0.4 0.3

16 . 12344 9021 . 94.5 95.1

17 . 574 330 . 4.4 3.5

18 . 60 33 . 0.5 0.3

19 . 18 13 . 0.1 0.1

20-24 . 1 8 . 0.0 0.1

25-54 . 9 2 . 0.1 0.0

55 or older . 1 . . 0.0 .

subject=Manufacturing

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 22 . . 1.1

15 . 79 28 . 2.0 1.5

16 . 3925 1857 . 97.0 96.3

17 . 41 17 . 1.0 0.9

18 . 1 . . 0.0 .

19 . . 2 . . 0.1

20-24 . . 1 . . 0.1

25-54 . . 1 . . 0.1

subject=Mathematics

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 14 24 14 0.0 0.0 0.0

11-13 165 172 303 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 507 808 5040 0.1 0.1 0.7

15 11958 14513 52408 1.9 2.1 7.6

16 529448 594738 565552 85.9 87.8 81.5

17 39301 35796 35777 6.4 5.3 5.2

18 12549 11094 13042 2.0 1.6 1.9

19 5268 4714 5488 0.9 0.7 0.8

20-24 5542 4747 5548 0.9 0.7 0.8

25-54 11160 10691 10330 1.8 1.6 1.5

55 or older 393 458 400 0.1 0.1 0.1


subject=Media/Film/Tv Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 13 . . 0.0

14 1 114 1838 0.0 0.3 2.9

15 165 1197 4367 0.7 3.2 6.8

16 20161 34285 56581 90.8 93.0 88.1

17 1423 956 1109 6.4 2.6 1.7

18 287 215 208 1.3 0.6 0.3

19 77 66 85 0.3 0.2 0.1

20-24 49 35 25 0.2 0.1 0.0

25-54 41 7 11 0.2 0.0 0.0

subject=Media: Communication & Production

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . . 154 . . 13.0

15 . . 179 . . 15.1

16 . . 653 . . 55.0

17 . . 164 . . 13.8

18 . . 21 . . 1.8

19 . . 12 . . 1.0

20-24 . . 5 . . 0.4

subject=Modern Greek

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 1 . 0.1 0.2 .

11-13 81 54 60 11.9 9.6 12.1

14 199 186 161 29.3 33.0 32.4

15 166 155 156 24.4 27.5 31.4

16 130 88 80 19.1 15.6 16.1

17 20 13 19 2.9 2.3 3.8

18 14 5 2 2.1 0.9 0.4

19 3 . 1 0.4 . 0.2

20-24 4 5 1 0.6 0.9 0.2

25-54 45 46 13 6.6 8.2 2.6

55 or older 17 11 4 2.5 2.0 0.8

subject=Modern Hebrew

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 2 1 5 0.5 0.2 1.1

14 8 42 51 2.0 9.6 11.5

15 119 156 190 29.6 35.6 43.0

16 248 221 187 61.7 50.5 42.3

17 19 15 8 4.7 3.4 1.8

18 2 1 1 0.5 0.2 0.2

20-24 1 . . 0.2 . .

25-54 2 2 . 0.5 0.5 .

55 or older 1 . . 0.2 . .


subject=Motor Vehicle Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 . 1 . . 0.7 .

15 . 18 8 . 12.5 6.2

16 79 125 121 100.0 86.8 93.8

subject=Music

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 25 32 18 0.1 0.1 0.0

14 162 249 293 0.4 0.5 0.6

15 1115 1132 1512 2.6 2.2 3.1

16 40280 49512 46238 94.8 95.7 95.1

17 616 613 506 1.5 1.2 1.0

18 114 101 34 0.3 0.2 0.1

19 34 25 4 0.1 0.0 0.0

20-24 37 23 4 0.1 0.0 0.0

25-54 78 20 10 0.2 0.0 0.0

55 or older 15 6 3 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Nautical Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 47 . . 24.6 . .

16 110 . . 57.6 . .

17 16 . . 8.4 . .

18 6 . . 3.1 . .

19 1 . . 0.5 . .

20-24 3 . . 1.6 . .

25-54 4 . . 2.1 . .

55 or older 4 . . 2.1 . .

subject=Office Technology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 2 . . 0.0

14 . 134 1030 . 0.5 3.0

15 . 1211 3380 . 4.2 9.7

16 . 26628 29667 . 92.5 85.1

17 . 571 612 . 2.0 1.8

18 . 144 107 . 0.5 0.3

19 . 30 29 . 0.1 0.1

20-24 . 18 22 . 0.1 0.1

25-54 . 33 11 . 0.1 0.0

55 or older . 3 . . 0.0 .

subject=Other Classical Languages

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 3 . 4 0.7 . 0.7

14 55 54 54 12.2 10.5 9.8

15 319 433 440 70.7 84.1 80.0

16 66 28 51 14.6 5.4 9.3

17 7 . . 1.6 . .

18 . . 1 . . 0.2

55 or older 1 . . 0.2 . .


subject=Panjabi

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 5 3 2 0.3 0.2 0.2

11-13 165 145 144 10.3 10.1 14.1

14 185 149 122 11.5 10.4 11.9

15 248 188 202 15.5 13.1 19.7

16 841 837 469 52.5 58.5 45.8

17 70 46 42 4.4 3.2 4.1

18 15 13 11 0.9 0.9 1.1

19 8 8 5 0.5 0.6 0.5

20-24 11 7 6 0.7 0.5 0.6

25-54 53 34 19 3.3 2.4 1.9

55 or older 1 1 1 0.1 0.1 0.1

subject=Performing Arts

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 13 . . 0.3

14 . . 1072 . . 21.7

15 . . 1252 . . 25.3

16 . . 2544 . . 51.5

17 . . 42 . . 0.8

18 . . 10 . . 0.2

19 . . 8 . . 0.2

20-24 . . 1 . . 0.0

subject=Persian

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 3 . . 0.7 .

11-13 8 16 37 3.3 3.8 7.3

14 11 43 59 4.6 10.2 11.6

15 52 95 139 21.6 22.6 27.3

16 100 198 220 41.5 47.1 43.2

17 34 40 35 14.1 9.5 6.9

18 20 11 11 8.3 2.6 2.2

19 9 8 3 3.7 1.9 0.6

20-24 6 3 2 2.5 0.7 0.4

25-54 . 1 3 . 0.2 0.6

55 or older 1 2 . 0.4 0.5 .

subject=Personal & Social Education

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 2 . . 0.5 . .

16 61 . . 14.6 . .

17 102 . . 24.5 . .

18 31 . . 7.4 . .

19 25 . . 6.0 . .

20-24 26 . . 6.2 . .

25-54 165 . . 39.6 . .

55 or older 5 . . 1.2 . .


subject=Physical Education/Sports Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 4 30 207 0.0 0.0 0.2

15 266 1209 3703 0.3 1.0 3.0

16 91517 121074 119337 97.7 98.2 96.0

17 1550 925 945 1.7 0.7 0.8

18 278 83 56 0.3 0.1 0.0

19 38 5 9 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 29 9 3 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 29 12 7 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Physics

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 5 3 5 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 13 10 26 0.0 0.0 0.0

15 768 577 939 1.9 1.5 1.1

16 37214 35355 81919 91.6 93.4 96.5

17 1780 1281 1358 4.4 3.4 1.6

18 324 269 270 0.8 0.7 0.3

19 112 110 148 0.3 0.3 0.2

20-24 163 105 118 0.4 0.3 0.1

25-54 232 127 123 0.6 0.3 0.1

55 or older 5 3 3 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Polish

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 17 26 476 5.9 7.5 14.0

14 67 75 721 23.1 21.6 21.1

15 124 154 1137 42.8 44.4 33.4

16 49 72 886 16.9 20.7 26.0

17 11 13 139 3.8 3.7 4.1

18 3 2 31 1.0 0.6 0.9

19 . . 6 . . 0.2

20-24 1 1 3 0.3 0.3 0.1

25-54 15 4 8 5.2 1.2 0.2

55 or older 3 . 2 1.0 . 0.1

subject=Portuguese

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 12 35 149 2.1 3.8 9.0

14 34 108 301 6.0 11.6 18.1

15 182 277 539 31.9 29.8 32.5

16 245 351 559 42.9 37.7 33.7

17 38 55 57 6.7 5.9 3.4

18 14 18 18 2.5 1.9 1.1

19 2 . 1 0.4 . 0.1

20-24 3 5 6 0.5 0.5 0.4

25-54 34 64 26 6.0 6.9 1.6

55 or older 7 17 4 1.2 1.8 0.2


subject=Psychology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . 5 2 . 0.1 0.0

14 . 10 22 . 0.2 0.3

15 13 133 246 0.2 2.5 2.8

16 294 1228 5736 5.2 23.1 66.3

17 1751 1272 1347 30.8 23.9 15.6

18 481 393 386 8.5 7.4 4.5

19 211 155 171 3.7 2.9 2.0

20-24 487 343 153 8.6 6.5 1.8

25-54 2344 1685 560 41.2 31.7 6.5

55 or older 109 91 34 1.9 1.7 0.4

subject=Psychology (As A Science)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 2 . . 0.1 . .

15 13 . . 0.6 . .

16 156 . . 7.2 . .

17 605 . . 27.9 . .

18 188 . . 8.7 . .

19 67 . . 3.1 . .

20-24 202 . . 9.3 . .

25-54 904 . . 41.6 . .

55 or older 35 . . 1.6 . .

subject=Religious Studies

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 1 . . 0.0 .

11-13 8 22 14 0.0 0.0 0.0

14 118 180 468 0.1 0.1 0.3

15 3806 5251 11503 4.0 4.2 6.7

16 91040 119212 159212 94.7 94.8 92.1

17 1004 1018 1454 1.0 0.8 0.8

18 72 66 131 0.1 0.1 0.1

19 9 15 24 0.0 0.0 0.0

20-24 18 7 21 0.0 0.0 0.0

25-54 34 27 45 0.0 0.0 0.0

55 or older 8 5 8 0.0 0.0 0.0

subject=Rural Science

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 1 2 . 0.1 0.2 .

16 981 992 . 97.3 98.6 .

17 24 11 . 2.4 1.1 .

19 2 . . 0.2 . .

20-24 . 1 . . 0.1 .


subject=Russian

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 1 . . 0.1

11-13 20 38 86 1.1 2.3 4.4

14 64 119 133 3.6 7.1 6.9

15 153 206 337 8.6 12.3 17.4

16 1225 1075 1192 69.0 64.4 61.5

17 90 65 88 5.1 3.9 4.5

18 113 60 38 6.4 3.6 2.0

19 8 3 7 0.5 0.2 0.4

20-24 13 10 5 0.7 0.6 0.3

25-54 66 63 34 3.7 3.8 1.8

55 or older 23 30 16 1.3 1.8 0.8

subject=Science (Core)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 7 . . 0.0

14 . . 670 . . 0.1

15 . . 39411 . . 8.4

16 . . 418016 . . 89.0

17 . . 6716 . . 1.4

18 . . 1695 . . 0.4

19 . . 730 . . 0.2

20-24 . . 835 . . 0.2

25-54 . . 1680 . . 0.4

55 or older . . 31 . . 0.0

subject=Science SA

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 1 . . 0.0 . .

11-13 2 8 . 0.0 0.0 .

14 370 237 . 0.7 0.4 .

15 1195 1405 . 2.3 2.3 .

16 47608 54036 . 90.5 90.4 .

17 2434 2483 . 4.6 4.2 .

18 495 718 . 0.9 1.2 .

19 177 264 . 0.3 0.4 .

20-24 117 374 . 0.2 0.6 .

25-54 181 266 . 0.3 0.4 .

55 or older . 8 . . 0.0 .

subject=Science: Double Award

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 2 . . 0.0 .

11-13 4 1 . 0.0 0.0 .

14 38 57 . 0.0 0.0 .

15 1612 1531 . 0.4 0.3 .

16 445489 480540 . 98.2 98.5 .

17 5851 5082 . 1.3 1.0 .

18 499 479 . 0.1 0.1 .

19 100 122 . 0.0 0.0 .

20-24 55 68 . 0.0 0.0 .

25-54 26 66 . 0.0 0.0 .

55 or older . 1 . . 0.0 .


subject=Social Science

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

15 8 . . 0.3 . .

16 2549 1434 . 96.6 97.9 .

17 67 22 . 2.5 1.5 .

18 7 3 . 0.3 0.2 .

19 . 4 . . 0.3 .

20-24 1 . . 0.0 . .

25-54 5 2 . 0.2 0.1 .

55 or older 1 . . 0.0 . .

subject=Sociology

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 7 . . 0.0

14 13 17 32 0.1 0.1 0.2

15 36 92 170 0.2 0.6 0.9

16 11348 13590 16369 70.3 85.1 88.9

17 2460 1377 1213 15.2 8.6 6.6

18 618 339 300 3.8 2.1 1.6

19 246 127 129 1.5 0.8 0.7

20-24 317 129 77 2.0 0.8 0.4

25-54 1050 264 102 6.5 1.7 0.6

55 or older 54 28 6 0.3 0.2 0.0

subject=Spanish

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . . 2 . . 0.0

11-13 87 132 313 0.2 0.2 0.5

14 241 627 2077 0.5 1.0 3.3

15 754 1374 2631 1.6 2.3 4.2

16 41737 52645 54455 86.0 87.8 86.7

17 1798 1444 1237 3.7 2.4 2.0

18 829 522 383 1.7 0.9 0.6

19 140 102 84 0.3 0.2 0.1

20-24 257 182 91 0.5 0.3 0.1

25-54 2079 2282 1242 4.3 3.8 2.0

55 or older 584 674 317 1.2 1.1 0.5

subject=Spanish & Business Studies (Combined)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 66 . . 100.0 . .

subject=Statistics

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 1 . . 0.0 .

11-13 1 54 11 0.0 0.1 0.0

14 54 202 3630 0.3 0.5 4.8

15 3264 13925 34098 20.3 35.9 44.8

16 12337 24151 37784 76.9 62.3 49.7

17 276 337 418 1.7 0.9 0.5

18 68 61 50 0.4 0.2 0.1

19 26 21 18 0.2 0.1 0.0

20-24 10 7 7 0.1 0.0 0.0

25-54 13 20 18 0.1 0.1 0.0

55 or older 1 1 . 0.0 0.0 .


subject=Tourism

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 29 1 . 0.8 0.1 .

15 20 2 . 0.6 0.1 .

16 2657 1695 . 75.1 87.4 .

17 577 176 . 16.3 9.1 .

18 125 36 . 3.5 1.9 .

19 32 11 . 0.9 0.6 .

20-24 27 6 . 0.8 0.3 .

25-54 66 11 . 1.9 0.6 .

55 or older 4 1 . 0.1 0.1 .

subject=Turkish

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger 2 20 24 0.2 1.5 1.6

11-13 73 113 159 7.3 8.2 10.3

14 107 169 268 10.7 12.3 17.4

15 229 366 401 22.8 26.6 26.1

16 532 596 568 53.0 43.3 36.9

17 21 37 28 2.1 2.7 1.8

18 13 6 10 1.3 0.4 0.6

19 2 2 5 0.2 0.1 0.3

20-24 10 4 1 1.0 0.3 0.1

25-54 15 63 71 1.5 4.6 4.6

55 or older . . 4 . . 0.3

subject=Urdu

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

10 or younger . 1 . . 0.0 .

11-13 30 34 19 0.4 0.9 0.6

14 99 70 282 1.5 1.9 9.5

15 403 240 493 6.0 6.4 16.6

16 5693 3206 2042 84.4 85.2 68.6

17 237 105 89 3.5 2.8 3.0

18 68 27 22 1.0 0.7 0.7

19 30 7 11 0.4 0.2 0.4

20-24 51 16 9 0.8 0.4 0.3

25-54 126 53 11 1.9 1.4 0.4

55 or older 10 2 . 0.1 0.1 .

subject=Welsh (Second Language)

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

14 1 1 1 11.1 12.5 16.7

15 5 3 1 55.6 37.5 16.7

16 3 4 4 33.3 50.0 66.7

subject=Welsh Language

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

16 1 2 . 100.0 100.0 .


subject=Additional Applied Science

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 25 . . 0.1

15 . . 621 . . 1.3

16 . . 46674 . . 97.5

17 . . 497 . . 1.0

18 . . 45 . . 0.1

19 . . 17 . . 0.0

20-24 . . 6 . . 0.0

25-54 . . 2 . . 0.0

subject=Additional Science

ageband 2000 2004 2009 2000 2004 2009

11-13 . . 2 . . 0.0

14 . . 12 . . 0.0

15 . . 1537 . . 0.5

16 . . 323143 . . 98.2

17 . . 3691 . . 1.1

18 . . 342 . . 0.1

19 . . 107 . . 0.0

20-24 . . 87 . . 0.0

25-54 . . 62 . . 0.0

55 or older . . 2 . . 0.0

How old are GCSE candidates - cambridgeassessment.org.uk · age below this was taken out. It was...

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